Deadgirl DVD Review
Deadgirl DVD Review
River's Edge meets Zombie Hookers.
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It happens early on, as the guys decide to play hooky and go exploring in a nearby abandoned mental asylum. Further and further they head into the dilapidated structure, until they find themselves deep in the dark, catacombs-style basement. It is in that cellar they find a dweller: she's a real-live dead girl (Jenny Spain) chained to a crude autopsy slab. Her ravaged face is obscured by a plastic bag, her brittle hands bound.
The "deadgirl" is completely nude, so naturally the first thought that comes to their teenaged minds is sex… or maybe not so naturally. While J.T. is quickly gung-ho on whoring the semi-animated corpse out to like-minded losers, Rickie can't quite bring himself to go along with the enterprise. But he can't quite bring himself to protect the helpless creature, either.
As the sordid story unfolds we watch through Rickie's passive eyes, feeling every bit as impotent as he while the zombie is violated again and again by J.T. and his crude classmates. Perhaps invigorated by the brutality, the "deadgirl" begins to stir more and more until one day she starts to fight back.
The movie is pretty bleak and quite disgusting. It's definitely not scary or suspenseful in way, and there is no humor to offset the exploitative themes. There isn't really a moral point of view in Deadgirl… these things just kind of happen.
The ambivalence of its tone is somewhat disturbing, but mostly it's just tedious. In spite of strong performances from the young cast and the fact that this milieu lends itself perfectly to low budget indie techniques, there is no way around Deadgirl's floundering script. The crux of the dilemma may be interesting to some (is it really rape if she's a zombie?), but the film's running time far outlasts any substantive exploration of the big ethical questions. In the end, all I really remembered was the mind-numbing barrage of exposition and subsequent morbid sex acts.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
Latest User Comments:
| No more spoilerific than the extended plot descripton for the DVD. Besides, I seriously doubt many people will be waching this movie for any "mystery" element. It's awfully predictable (IMHO). Staci | |
| 09-12-2009 by stacilayne | discuss |
| ...and the review gives away about 90% of the plot as well. Just a heads up for those who haven't seen it yet :rolleyes: | |
| 09-07-2009 by The_Return | discuss |